Controlling device for doors



Dc. 16, 1952 H, RQCHE 2,621,925

CONTROLLING DEVCE FOR DOORS Filed Oct. 23, 1950 Patented Dec. 16, 1952 CONTBOLLING DEVICE FOR DOORS Henri Roche, Paris, France, assignor to Ascenseurs Edoux-Samain, Paris, France, a company Application October 23, 1950, Serial No. 191,607 In France October 29, 1949 1 Claim.

pose of a set of levers nished 01T with springs,.

but such a layout enables the automatic action to be carried out only for the opening or for that of the closing. Other builders employ an electric motor for controlling the motions of the door through levers and gearing, but such an answer to the problem comes up against the trouble of stopping the motor exactly at the moment of the interlocking of the latch; the method that makes use of a variable voltage motor provides a Iway for overcoming the difliculty, but has the disadvantage of being very cumbersome and complicated.

The object of this invention is a method including an arrangement for the automatic working of doors or similar parts while cutting out the drawbacks as mentioned above. The method that forms the object of the invention is composed mainly of the combination with the door of a mechanical xture that is connected to this door so that it changes position with it and has suicient power to enable the whole thing to go through a point of unstable equilibrium during the working motion, that takes place during the first portion of its travel against the influence lof the power up to this intermediate point of unstable equilibrium, while the motion is assisted by this power up to the exact end point required, that is xed by a stop, whatever may be the 'working direction. A damper set is added that serves as a check for the end travel of the working motion while enabling the door to reach its exact terminal position without any bumping or rebounding eiect, while the power exerted holds the door strictly in this position as long as the opening or closing movement remains inactive.

Thus, on each side of the midway point of unstable equilibrium, the door tends to shut or open as it diverges from this point and the working strain therefore no longer acts after going beyond this point in the direction of the motion.

The power that has been discussed above may be produced by one or more springs that act in one rotary direction or the other on a swivelling part, according as this power goes during the working from one side or the other of the rotary axis. l

The door may be controlled by hand or electrically; in the latte;` case, the motor has to operate solely for causing the door to cross the position of unstable equilibrium (provided for instance in the middle of its travel). As soon as the latter is reached, the door closes or opens through springs according to the direction in which the motion takes place; the driving mechanism is adjusted very simply since its effect may be cut out over a wide space beyond the midway point referred to above; the door is enabled to slow down through the damping device and the hooking of the latch is performed in a suitable way. There is thus no necessity to have to stop the motor at the exact instant of interlocking of the latch.

When the invention is put into operation on a cage door of which the motion involves that of the lading door by means of an interlocking carried out between the two doors when the cage is at the level of the landing door, the cage door is held strictly in position and enables this interlocking to be properly executed without fear of a premature hooking that might take place from a slight opening motion of the cage door.

To show how such a contrivance may be put into practice, a description will now be given of an example of its adaptation to the opening and closing of elevator doors, with reference to the accompanying plan showing in quite a diagrammatic way an elevational view of the mechanical fittings as fixed to an elevator door.

In the example considered, the device includes a lever means coupled to the door and to a gear meshing with a reducing smaller pinion and a spring and damper means -actuating the latter pinion with al power that brings about the condition of unstable equilibrium.

The lever means includes an arm I that moves around the fixed point 2 located on the casing of the door, while this arm is coupled, on one side of its axis, to both leaves of the door by means of links 3 4, each being hinged to the arm l and to a bracket piece 5 6 xed rigidly with the corresponding leaf; on the other side, the arm l is connected to a second arm 'I that transfers its motion, by means of a lever 8, to a toothed pinion or gear 9 that meshes with a smaller gear l0. The gears 9--I D turn about axes I l-IZ, fastened rmly on the casings of the door. The length of the control arms is so designed that the pinion 9 carries out a rotary movement through 90 and (for instance of 140), when the door makes a full opening or closing movement; the pinion I may be half the diameter of pinion 9 so that it may have twice its angular movements and turns through an angle of at least 180.

The power acting on the pinion I0 is exerted by a piston shaped end portion I3 of a connecting rod I6 sliding in a damper cylinder I4 and urged toward the closed end of cylinder I4 by spring means I5 provided between the piston I3 and the cylinder; the rod I6 of this piston is pivoted by means of a head I1 to the pinion (a) When controlled by hand The force exerted for controlling the working of the door is transferred by the gear to the pinion 9 that rotates and draws the pinion I0 also,

while the latter draws in its turn the piston I3 of the cylinder and this force increases until the axis of the rod I5 of the piston meets the extension of the axis I2 of the pinion IG and connecting rod I6 passes through a dead center position. At this instant, the door is in a position of unstable equilibrium and the exertion on it of a slight power causes it to move up automatically to one of its end positions.

(b) When controlled electrically An electric motor that is fastened firmly on the casing of the door turns, by means of a reducer, the pinion 9 that actuates in its turn, on the one hand, the lever means for the door and, on the other hand, the pinion I0.

The electric motor is started up either by hand, or by any other method, such as a photo-electric cell and a relay.

On starting up, the electric motor has to supply a torque that increases gradually until the axis of the rod of the piston I3 meets the axis I2 of the pinion I0 in a dead center position. The piston I3 has then made its greatest travel. At this instant, the motor is electrically disconnected, the torque reduces to zero. Under the effect of the springs of the checking driving cylinder I4, the door takes up one of its terminal positions.

The feed of the motor is switched olf by a contact that is actuated by the door after passing the dead center position of unstable equilibrium. The motor is driven then by the pinion until the doorbecomes stationary at one of its end positions. The braking at the end of travel takes place always by means of the damper of the cylinder I4.

It will be understood readily that the embodiment, as disclosed above and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, is not of a restrictive nature and that various changes in structural design may be introduced without going outside the scope of the invention.

Use may be made of the invention for working the cage doors and the landing doors of elevators, with the cage carrying the whole outfit, including the electric motor, the driving cylinder brake, the toothed pinions and the working gear, put together as explained above. The cage door carries a vertical rod called a lifting-rod that is able to pass between two rollers fixed rigidly with the landing door. During the vertical movement of the cage, this lifting-rod slides between the two rollers, while on stopping the cage door and the landing door are fixed rigidly in any horizontal movement and the automatic working of the cage door draws in its motion the landing door. Such a device besides is already known separately `and does not form part of the invention, but it will be remarked only that all the benets from the arrangement of the invention in regard to the cage door then are applied likewise to the landing door.

I claim:

Controlling device for doors, comprising, in combination, lever means adapted to be connected to a door, and movable between a door opening position and a door closing position; a gear operatively connected to said lever system for moving the same between said two positions; a small gear meshing with said gear, the ratio between said gears being such that during movement of said lever means said smaller gear turns through an angle greater than a connecting rod pivoted at one end thereof to said smaller gear and having a xed piston-shaped end portion at the other end thereof; a damper cylinder having a closed end, and pivotally supported at said closed end, and receiving said piston-shaped end portion in the other end thereof; and spring means urging said piston-shaped end portion into said cylinder from an outer position nearer to the axis of said smaller gear to an inner position farther from said axis of said smaller gear, said one end of said connecting rod passing through a dead center position on the side of the axis of said smaller gear farther from said cylinder when said connecting rod and the axis of said smaller gear are located in a plane and said pistonshaped end portion is in said outer position thereof.

HENRI ROCHE.

REFERENCES CITED rIhe following references are of record in the le of this patent:

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